Thought for the day :"I thought if I took the shell off my racing snail it would make it faster – but it just made it sluggish"
So, finally back at a machine after almost a month away. And here I am in Crete...
We have had Mythodea, then the Brotherhood of the Black and a wedding, and then a week in a field followed by Renewal - a broke Bothy (no clutch) and a limp back to Llanelli and then straight off to Luton and Agios Nikolais....
I have a few photos to process I can tell you....
But in the meantime, an old friend appeared at Renewal - by the name of Justin, the person who first taught me how to work my Canon Camera... and he was set up for a studio session in the Trader's on the first day ... but due to the rain he set up in the Tavern on the second day.....
These are but a few of them - well at least the three that he sent me....
must say I am rather impressed
And so we are baby sitting for Scarlett... And a day trip up to Dimitri's at FREINDS...
A deserted village near Dories - which was encircled by about 25 vultures. We tried to get near but scared them all away bar one ...
The wing span had to be at least 6 feet
And then on to Dimitri's and a beer or three - and traditional meze that comes with the beer...
and orange juice and sprites and a final bill of only 10 euros - I love the place ....
Thought for the day:"I like the sound you make when you shut up!" So - 45 years married today - and we are at a Pirate Festival and I will be officiating at the Handfasting of Elidh and Andy this evenign at 6pm - and it is tipping down ...
Ho Hum...
So back with you tomorrow when I am back on the internet...
Thought for the day;"If Heaven floats does Helsinki?"
Not much time this morning - off to the Brotherhood of the Black pirate Event - and preparing for a handfasting tomorrow night - ho hum - more Mythodea tomorrow
But I will share with you the video of the Saga of the Tree - I will explain it another time ...
Thought for the day:"Why do Meteors always land in craters?"
So, Sunday was over. The journey from the UK lasted 26 hours - but that was mainly because I left in plenty of time on Saturday morning knowing that my old Camper Van - the "Bothy" named after the Scottish shepherd's huts that are moved from pasture to pasture, was heavily laden with all my tents and kit and that it is a long way to Folkestone and there are many opportunities for delays along the motorways.
In fact, there was little in the way of delay. The worst was trying to get out of Wales - but there is no change there !!
And just to prove that I can park properly in a Services Car Park - in case anyone wanted to post upon my parking galleries...
The Channel tunnel had been backed up due to the heat - apparently the air conditioning had failed due to the excessive heat - so they were packing the cars and vans in as fast as they could get them away - running trains every twenty minutes - meaning that I gained an hour and a half on my voyage schedule.
Last minute notification that the bridge was closed at Essen meant that I opted for the slightly longer journey (28 km) via Cologne, which is where I found myself at about 2am local time, and four hours away from Brokeloh.. So I took the opportunity to sleep in the services and got up at 8am local time having had a decent rest.....
Last year I pushed forward to get there early but ended up in the queues as the gates did not open until 12 midday. This time I times it better and got there about 12.20 and to my surprise drove around the circuit with no delays - and got to the sign in area - where they had 12 lanes organised for cars - and my Sign saying "Künstler TROSS" got me into my own lane and I was signed in within minutes - very well organised... I do not think other players were delayed much either.
I did note that my "free" Bard's ticket - face value 80 Euro would have cost €250 including the extra for early arrival. My trader colleagues inform me that the company charges the advance fee for staff who are traders as well - certainly an advantage being a Bard.
I had set most of my tent up the night before in the cool - so only finishing touches were now required and a walk around the Tross showed that there was not a lot of improvement from the day before.. but the ground was well laid out and clearly marked
And so it was time to renew acquaintances with friends old and new and to start trying to get my German back up to scratch. My near neighbours were the Fire dancers - Flammantasche -
And so to introduce my German friends to the Ancient British custom of Pimms o'clock - drunk of course from Jam Jars - they lovingly provided an umbrella for my drink - a nice touch.
Language is not a real problem at Conquest. Most are able to use English and as it is so international much of the conversations will default to English. No-one should be put off form thinking of coming to this event by worries about the language. For me it was quite difficult at the meetings as things got involved and very fast - and as the only English Speaker in the Guild - the meetings were of course held in German...
So Monday was a chill day - walking around and meeting people from around the Tross.
This year I had been tasked by Rob at LARP Book to take some video of the set up - and so that is what I did. It actually seems to be a bit of a pub crawl... From one point of hospitality to another - did I say how much I enjoy this event ???
I will put the video into order later - but here is the Leather Shop - Skelmir Leder and another find friend - oh - and a Gin and Tonic....
And so the day moved onwards - more tomorrow - but once again to give an idea of the scale of this event - here is a short video of one of the Monster Crews - the Schwarze Eis - or the Black Ice. They are a Borg like mind creature - seem to feel no pain and are hard to kill though great fun to fight. I doff my hat for the way that they continue to fight in the heat - did I mention the heat - over 30 degrees every day - and they still keep coming ....
and this is just the monster crew!!
And so another day was over ... and another stunning sunset..
Cheers - I think I shall have to have a gin and tonic - and put my feet up ...
Thought for the day: "Two blood cells met and fell in love , alas it was all in vein."
It seems that most of my get up and go has got up and gone in the post event malaise that comes of very long driving and long sleepless days and nights.. Well - I have a reputation to maintain - "Die Ganze Woche Da! (Here all Week) has been translated many times into "UP all Night!"
It wasn't completely true - I was in bed by 4am on a couple of nights - which with the European time being an hour forward was not really bad - it only being 3am in reality!
However - we were up before 10.30am each day - time for a shower and shave before the Bards Frühstück - a general bring and take of food with the notices for the day - most of which went over my head! the first couple of days, of course I had a full English breakfast cooked in the Bothy - much to the chagrin of many of my German and Dutch companions... Later I succumbed to water melon and apples and ham and cheese.... In Rome be a Roman Candle...
And so - what can I say about the German LARP - Organised is the answer. It is very big and the facilities are very good. The Warm showers are immense not only the cubicles are large enough for fat Germans but they are set up with 40 cubicles at each location - and they are spread out over the site. The water is consistently warm - rather than hot which was a blessing for me !!but also reflected the heat of the event. The toilets were wonderful and cleaned very regularly. Portaloos were around the site and cleaned regularly also and normally replaced with paper - but at the main sites were 40 or so electrically powered toilets - with lighting and a traffic light system on the doors which were surrounded with led lights - red for engaged and green for vacant. Sadly on occasion - because my kit contains so much in the way of belt and pouches and tankards that need sorting when I enter a cubicle - on occasion I forgot to lock immediately and scared a couple of players - though I was still struggling with my belt !!
At the start there were a couple of barrels full of toilet paper - but that disappeared after a few days. Apparently, last year someone stole most of the toilet rolls to use on siege engines in the battles and the Orga (game team) this year decided that they would provide less accordingly. Seems fair. Most of us expect to carry paper around with us at festivals and even at CP in the UK I find that it is better to be safe than sorry....
As I arrived I did not want to set up too early as in the past years I have got the tent up so early that it seems someone always wants me to be somewhere else and it is too difficult to move once up.
But as I arrived on the site I was hailed by friend Jens, who would later be Brüder Johannes of the Abtei der geschwollen Leber - The Monastery of the Swollen Liver - who had his pitch sorted but only had two chairs and a wooden box that turned out to be his mobile fridge full of German beer. So 6 beers later (bearing in mind that German beer is generally about 5.5% alcohol) in the heat I finally parted from him - for a while and looked for my pitch..
Surprisingly the Guild Entrance tent was already up - though it would have to be turned around later as the door was int he wrong place ! So I set up early with Bertha the Barden Heim ....... as it was clearly shown ion the map to be right next to the Guild Tent....
Of course my faithful travelling companions soon found their proper seat on the viking seat .. Father Ted and the Abbot Costello with DMBI and Woody
With the greenery set out and the flags flying I was ready for the start...
No power was supplied until Wednesday which meant that I had to eat much of my disposable food quickly. I had stopped in Folkestone TESCO to get my food - and of course with the heatwave they had sold out of ice. The fridge had been on n the Bothy for a day before leaving - but was only just holding its cool temperature. On a stroke of genius I went to the fish counter and explained that I was heading over the channel and was provided with a bag of the ice used to keep the fish fresh.. Well - Ice is Ice!! It kept the cool box chilled for a while... but my milk did not survive more than a day - I went without tea for two days!! Terrible when you have to drink wine instead!! or German Beer!
The camp about me was taking shape though some would not arrive until Wednesday - and the effort being put into the tents was awesome - this was Terpsichore the dancers - but more of them later...
And so I went out to survey the "Tross". It was important not to call it the town or Stadt - as it was the train of the battle armies and not a town at all... complete with the Stadt Wacht - the town police - the militia and the street gangs - I made friends with the Kettles - more of them later.
When I returned to the Barden Heim I was delighted to be joined by Ramonje Windlille - the first girl about whom I wrote a song of Mythodea ..... and found that she was playing as an artist with a band called Caniad but also was looking for another singing partner so she could try out her German Songs... I was delighted to assist and we worked out a playlist that we could manage together ..
Thought for the day: "I've been trying to find an expert physician, but they're all still practicing!!"
A full ten days away and an epic journey to Germany and return - I shall of course be recounting some of my adventures over the next few days - but today is a day for recovery...
Journey out was 26 hours - including 5 hours in a service station in the Camper but still a long journey. Return was 23 hours... with occasional stops at service stations as the fatigue caught up with me. Two whole books of the Black Company, possibly three!.
A few images just to put it into context .. and a video from the Fire Brigade at Brokeloh..
I hope this gives some context...
But the Heat !!! I am assured that no day was less that 30 degrees and on some days we reached 37 degrees with no shade - rules were enforced to ensure that everyone had hats or head covering... I spent most of my time with a head scarf soaked in water under my headband .... and then the Fire Brigade turned up...
Staying Cool in the Künstler Lager
But back to my own bed .. and a cool evening..
Cheers !!
